Max Verstappen jokes about Kimi Antonelli’s F1 lead: “I’m definitely not having a comeback!”

September 18, 2026 · Yahoo Sports

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With eight or nine race weekends remaining – depending on what happens with the grands prix in the Middle East at the end of the year – Kimi Antonelli is in pole position to claim his maiden Formula 1 world title, which would also see him replace Sebastian Vettel as the youngest world champion ever.

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Following Antonelli’s victory in Madrid, team-mate George Russell can no longer become world champion in a scenario where the Briton wins every race and Antonelli consistently finishes second. In other words, Russell no longer has it entirely in his own hands, which led him to tell the media on Sunday that he feels he is no longer in the fight.

Antonelli, for his part, does not yet want to think about a possible world title and, despite it being a cliche, that is exactly the mindset the young Italian should have according to those who know what it takes, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.

When both drivers were asked what advice they would give Antonelli for the decisive weeks of the season, the Mercedes driver himself immediately jumped in: “Well, I think they will hope for a comeback!”

Verstappen, however, quickly joked in response: “I’m definitely not having a comeback!”

Max Verstappen finished on the podium behind Kimi Antonelli in Spain

Last year, Verstappen did manage to overturn a sizeable deficit by finishing on the podium in every grand prix after the summer break, but the Dutchman knows that the reality is completely different this time. Verstappen can only aim for a potential race win now. Should he fail to win a grand prix this year, it would be the first time since his debut season in 2015 that he hasn’t taken to the top step of the podium.

As for his advice to Antonelli, Verstappen said the Mercedes driver should mainly continue in the same way, without looking at the championship standings too much.

“Kimi just needs to do what he’s doing. I mean, it’s fantastic, it’s working really well”, Verstappen said.

“He should not stress about it too much, which I don’t think he is. He’s just delivering, he’s confident, and he’s getting more and more experience. He’s still young and he’s still very early in his career, but he’s already flying. It’s just working.

“He shouldn’t overcomplicate things and he’s not doing that. He has a lot of good people around him that know what he needs, so it’s all working well.”

Lando Norris said Kimi Antonelli doesn't need any advice

According to Norris, Antonelli’s rivals should not give him any more useful advice, as the 20-year-old Italian will be a formidable opponent in the fight for the world title not only this year, but also in the seasons to come.

“He’s leading by 80 points because he’s doing an incredible job. He’s beating a much more experienced team-mate, and a decent team-mate, so I don’t want to give him any advice because he’s doing a scarily good job – and he just turned 20. Pretty phenomenal”, the McLaren driver said.

“I think it’s cool to see someone so young doing such an incredible job and more than likely go on and win the championship. He’s been impressive since the first race this year, very few mistakes. He’s not driving like it’s his second year in F1, that’s for sure.

“There’s going to be many, many more years of us battling and I’m excited for more. Hopefully this year already, and I’m excited for all of us to race more in the future too. I’m looking forward to it.”

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